Apparatus for collecting cigarettes in receptacles



March 27, 1962 e. F. PEMBROKE ETAL 3,026,661

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APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING CIGARETTES IN RECEPTACLES Filed Feb. 1, 1960 6Sheets-Sheet 6 Fig.9.

154 X I X154 156 INVENTORS new 3,fi2fi,fidl Patented Pillar. 27, 1962fire 3,026,661 APPARATUS FQR COLLECTRNG CIGARETTES IN RECEPTACLES GeorgeFrederick Pembroke and James George Edward Hiilman, London, England,assignors to Molins Machine Company Limited, London, England, a companyof Great Britain Filed Feb. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 5,934 Claims priority,application Great Britain Feb. 10, 1959 9 Claims. (Cl. 53-148) Thisinvention concerns improvements in or relating to apparatus forcollecting cigarettes in receptacles (e.g. cigarettes coming from one ormore cigarette-making machines).

In the complete specification and drawings of United States Patent No.2,919,529, granted January 5, 1960, there is disclosed apparatus inwhich cigarettes are fed downwardly into an open-sided receptacle toform a stack on a platform which moves gradually downwardly in thereceptacle, thus lowering the stack as more cigarettes are added to thestack from above. When the platform has moved a desired distancedownwards, a support device operates to intercept and support all thosecigarettes above a predetermined level, so as temporarily to preventthem from moving further downwardly. The cigarettes which are Whollysupported by the platform (forming the required stack), are then engagedby a pusher which moves through the receptacle, pushing the stack acrossthe support from the receptacle into an adjacent container. The pusheris then withdrawn, the platform is raised again, the support device iswithdrawn so as to allow those cigarettes above the said predeterminedlevel to be supported on the platform and to be lowered thereby, and thecycle is repeated.

In the complete specification and drawings of copending US. patentapplication Ser. No. 747,738, filed July 10, 1958, now US. Patent No.3,004,374, there is disclosed apparatus similar to that just described,but modified so that the container into which cigarettes are pushed ismoved to different positions so as to be filled in a plurality ofstages. Thus in one specifice example described in U.S. patentapplication Serial No. 747,738 the container is first positioned withits lower half in register with the receptacle and filled with a stackof cigarettes pushed into it from the receptacle, and is then lowered tobring its upper half into register with the receptacle, so that the nextstack of cigarettes pushed out of the receptacle enters the upper halfof the container. That modification facilities the transfer ofcigarettes into the container, particularly when the cigarettes inquestion are tipped.

The containers referred to above are removable, and would in practice heused, when filled, to transport cigarettes, for example to a packingmachine. A container for use with the apparatus described is constructedwith a base, two end walls, and one side wall, the opposite side (whichis the side to be positioned adjacent the receptacle) being open toallow the cigarettes to be pushed in. Containers of this generalconstruction are often used by cigarette manufacturers to contain andtransport cigarettes, and are commonly known as trays. Such trays varyin constructional detail, but often the bottom inside corners (betweenthe base and end walls) are formed at 90 angles, and further, the innersurfaces of the end walls of a typical tray are often flush from the topto the base. With such constructions the stack of cigarettes pushed intoa tray can of course be rectilinear in cross-section, and no diflicultyarises in this connection.

Some trays, however, are constructed with non-rectangular bottom insidecorners; for example they may be provided with gussets extending fromthe base to the end walls, or the base and end walls may be joined bycurved portions. Further, the end walls may be provided with inwardprojections at their upper ends, to enable trays to be stacked one onanother, and these inward projections may extend downwardly inside thetray, forming obstructions at the top inside corners of the tray. When atray of such construction is to be used, the problem arises of formingin the receptacle a stack of suitable shape to push from the receptacleinto the tray, which stack will fill the tray to its full capacity whileavoiding the obstructions in the inside corner portions of the tray.

According to the present invention there is providedcigarette-collecting apparatus comprising means to feed cigarettesdownwardly on to a support on which they form a stack, means to move thesupport downwardly between upright confining walls to lower the stackduring its formation, a pusher to push a stack across the support intoan adjacent container, and means operative, after a stack of therequired size has been formed on the support, to prevent furthercigarettes from moving down until the stack has been pushed across thesupport into an adjacent container and the support has been raised toreceive further cigarettes, wherein on or more of the members whichconfine the stack during its formation (i.e. the support and theconfining walls) comprise movable parts located where corners of acompleted stack will be located, and means to cause each such movablepart to assume a position in the same plane as the member of which itforms part, for facilitating the formation of the stack, and to moveinwardly from the said position before the stack is pushed into acontainer, so as to cause the corners of the stack to be formed tosuitable shapes to enable them to clear any obstructions in the innercorner portions of the container.

The said movable parts may be pivoted on their respective confiningmembers. For example the support may have pivoted flaps at its extremeends, which flaps are spring-urged upwardly towards positions at whichthey extend obliquely from the support to the confining walls. Movementof such a flap may be controlled by an element pivotally connected tothe support and springur-ged in a direction to press the flap upwardly,said element having a part arranged to engage a fixed abutment when thesupport is approching its highest position, whereby the element isdepressed relatively to the support and the flap swings downwardly intothe plane of the rest of the support. The said element may have asurface which, when the element is in its raised position relatively tothe support, forms an extension of the raised flap.

Further, the said upright confining walls may comprise pivoted flaps atthe upper ends of the said walls, said flaps being spring-urgedoutwardly towards positions in which each said flap is in the same planeas its upright confining Walls, and means may be provided to press saidflaps inwardly after completion of a stock of cigarettes to be pushedinto a container, so as to cause the said flaps to extend obliquelyinwardly from the said walls and cause the upper corner portions of thestack to assume a suitable shape prior to the transfer of the stack ofcigarettes into the container.

The apparatus may comprise means to lower a container from one fillingposition to another, and may be arranged to fill a container in twostages, by pushing one stack into the lower part of the container andsubsequently pushing a further stack being pushed into the upper part ofthe container after the latter has been lowered, the means to press theflaps inwardly being operative only after formation of the said furtherstack. The said means to press the flaps inwardly may comprise a movablepresser element to engage each said flap, a movable actuating memberarranged to be moved by the said support each time the latter reachesits lowermost position, a linking member capable of coupling the saidmovable presser element to the said movable actuating member, and meansoperated by the said means to lower a container, to move the saidlinking member to a positione such that it can couple the presserelement to the actuating member, only when the container is beinglowered from the said one filling position to the other fillingposition.

T he pusher itself may be suitably shaped at the corners to conform tothe shape of the stack to be pushed into the container. In the casewhere the container is filled in two stages as just mentioned, thepusher may comprise pivoted portions at its upper corners at least,which portions can be swung away to cause the pusher to conform in shapesubstantially to the shape of a stack to be pushed into the container.

Apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described by wayof example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of cigarette-collecting apparatus,

FIGURES 2 and 3 show, to a larger scale, a detail of the mechanism shownin FIGURE 1, with the parts in different positions,

FIGURE 4 shows, to a larger scale, a further detail of the mechanismshown in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 5 is a detail of a part of FIGURE 4, showing some mechanismomitted from FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view, showing part of a pusher plate, and takenon the line VI-VI, FIGURE 5,

FIGURE 7 is a partial end view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1 andillustrating means for lowering a contamer,

FIGURE 8 is an end view of part of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 4, and

FIGURE 9 is a diagrammatic side view of a container or tray.

In the references to the accompany drawings, the reference numeralsapplied to certain parts are, where appropriate, and as far aspracticable, the same as reference numerals applied to correspondingparts of FIG- URE in of the drawings accompanying the completespecification of U.S. patent application Serial No. 690,47 5 and ofFIGURE 8 of the drawings accompanying the complete specification of U.S.patent application Serial No. 747,738.

Referring to FIGURE 1, this shows in outline cigarette-collectingapparatus as disclosed in the complete specification and drawings ofU.S. patent application Serial No. 690,475 and shows in additionmechanism in accordance with the present invention. The apparatusdisclosed in U.S. patent application Serial No. 690,475 will first bebriefly referred to.

The apparatus comprises an open-sided receptacle towards which rows ofcigarettes are carried by conveyor bands I, which deliver the cigarettesto rotating paddlewheels 3 which lower the cigarettes towards thereceptacle. Strippers 4 strip the cigarettes from the paddlewheels andconfine a stack of downwardly-moving cigarettes. A reciprocating bar 5carries pins 6 which, by moving to and fro through the descending pileof cigarettes help to maintain the cigarettes in parallel alignment,i.e. with their longitudinal axes parallel to the pins 6.

A row of needles I2 is located beneath the pins 6, and a support plate12a is located just below the needles 12. The needles are arranged to beprojected forwardly at times to penetrate end faces of cigarettes andthereby arrest further downward movement of all cigarettes at or abovethe level of the needles. The plate 12a is arranged to be projectedforwardly shortly thereafter in order to help to support the cigarettesabove it.

The receptacle mentioned above includes opposed end walls 149. A supportor platform 15 is arranged to be moved vertically downwardly from aposition just below the level of the plate 12:! to a lower position. Theplatform acts to support cigarettes fed downwardly from the bands 1, andto lower them through the receptacle in the form of a stack. When theplatform has reached its lowest position, a pusher plate 32 is movedforwardly across the platform to push the stack of cigarettes into acontainer arranged in front of the open-sided receptacle. Before theplatform reaches its lowest position, the needles 12 and the plate 12aare operated to arrest the downward movement of cigarettes above theirlevel, and thus the final downward movement of the platform separates astack of cigarettes, supported on the platform, from cigarettessupported by the needles I2 and plate 120.

The operation of the devices so far mentioned is efiected as disclosedin the complete specification and drawings of U.S. patent applicationSerial No. 690,475 with particular reference to FIGURE 16 of thosedrawings.

A container 11 (see FIGURE 7) to receive a stack of cigarettes iscarried on supports 16 carried by chain conveyors 3-3, and mechanism isprovided to move the chain conveyors so as to position the container inthe two positions shown in full line and in dot and dash line,respectively, in FIGURE 7. In the full line position the lower part ofthe container registers with a stack to be pushed into it, while in thedot-and-dash line position the upper part of the container is positionedto receive a further stack which will rest on the cigarettes alreadycontained in the lower part.

The operation of the chain conveyor 83 is as disclosed in the completespecification and drawings of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 747,738and need not be mentioned here.

in the construction according to the present invention, the platform 15,the end walls 140, and the pusher plate 32, comprise pivoted parts whichare arranged to be swung about their pivots at certain times in themanner and for the purposes to be described.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the two extreme end portions of the platform 15are each formed by a pivoted flap 26, pivoted on the platform at 27. Theflaps may be springurged downwardly, or may be freely pivoted. Twoidentical devices are provided at opposite ends of the platform to causethese flaps to swing to the desired positions at suitable times. One ofthese devices is illustrated in detail in FIGURES 2 and 3 and thefollowing description relates to this one device, it being understoodthat the description applies equally to the device at the other end ofthe platform. 15.

Mounted beneath and fixed to the platform 15 is a bracket 22 on whichare pivoted parallel links 23 carrying an upwardly extending element 24.The links 23 are spring-urged upwardly by a spring 25.

The element 24 has an extension 23 having an inclined end face 29 which,when the links 23 are in their upward position, engages the flap 26 andforms an extension of it, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, while urging andholding it in an upwardly inclined position, upward movement of the part28 being restricted by a stop screw 33. When the member 24 and links 23are in their lower position, FIGURE 3, the part 28 lies beneath the fiap26, which then lies in the same plane as the rest of the platform 15.

A projection 30 fixed on the part 28 extends past the confining wall andengages a fixed abutment 31 when the platform 15 approaches itsuppermost position, FIG- URE 3, and is thereby pressed downwardly,relatively to the platform 15, to cause the flap 26 to assume theposition shown in FIGURE 3.

Referring now to FIGURES l and 4, the upper end of each of the confiningwalls 140 (only one of which is shown in FIGURE 4) comprises a pivotedflap 34, pivoted at 35. This flap is spring-urged outwardly against astop 36 by a spring 37, so that normally it lies in the same plane asthe remainder of the wall 140, as shown in FIGURE 1 and also in fullline in FIGURE 4. A bellcrank lever having arms 38 and 39 is pivoted at49 on a fixed bracket 41. The arm 38 carries a roller 42 which engagesthe flap 34. A link 43 is pivotally connected to and depends from thearm 3?, and carries at its lower end a pin 44. A spring 45 extendingfrom the arm 39 to the link 43 urges the latter towards the left, asviewed in FIGURE 4, against an adjustable stop screw 46.

A lever 47 carries a pin 43 which extends across the link 43 so thatwhen the lever 47 is turned clockwise about its pivot 4d the pin 48 willpush the link to the right, FIGURE 4. This is effected at certain timesby a member 50 which is connected to and movable with the chain conveyorsystem 83 (FIGURE 7), and which has a cam face 51 which can engage aroller 55 on the lever 47 when the member 50 moves downwards. Thecontainer 1.1 is first placed in a position such that its lower halfregisters with a stack of cigarettes to be pushed into it; when itslower half has been filled, the container is lowered so that the nextoperation of the pusher 32 will fill the upper half. It is during themovement of the chain conveyors 83 to bring the container or tray 11 tothe lower position that the member 50 engages the roller 55 and therebycauses the link 43 to swing over to the right as viewed in FIGURE 4.

An arm 66 pivoted at 61 to a fixed part of the apparatus (see alsoFIGURE 8) is arranged to be swung downwardly against the pressure of aspring (not shown) by a presser element 62 connected to and movable withthe platform 15. The element 62 makes contact with the arm 60 wheneverthe platform approaches its lowermost position, that is, shortly beforea stack of cigarettes is pushed off the platform into the container.Thus the arm 60 swings down once during each filling cycle. As can beseen from FIGURES 4 and 8, the end of the arm of} is so located that itcan engage the pin 44, and push it downwardly, only when the link 43 hasbeen swung to the right in FIGURE 4 and occupies the position shown indot-and-dash line in that figure. Thus although the arm 66 movesdownwardly once during each filling cycle, it engages the pin 44 only atthe completion of the second cycle of a pairthat is, when the stack ofcigarettes. which is to be pushed into the upper half of a container hasjust been completed. When this occurs, the arm 6% pulls the link 43downwardly, thereby rocking the bell-crank lever 38, 39 and causing theroller 42 to push the flap 34 inwardly to the dot-and-dash line positionshown in FIGURE 4, and to hold it in that position as long as theplatform 15 is in its lowermost posillflil.

The upper corner portions 65 of the pusher plate 32 (one of which isshown in dot-and-dash line in FIGURE 4) are pivoted on the plate asshown in FIGURE 5 and 6 and are arranged to be swung back to desiredtimes as illustrated in dot-and-dash lines in FIGURE 6.

Each corner portion 65 is fixed on a swing bracket as, see FIGURE 6,which is pivoted at 67 to a part 68 fixed on the rear face of the pusherplate 32. A coiled spring 69 urges the corner portion 65 into the sameplane as the rest of the plate 32 as shown in full line in FIGURE 6.When the flap 34 is in the position shown in full line in FIGURE 4, i.e.in the same plane as the wall 140, and the pusher plate 32 moves acrossthe platform 15, the corner portions 65 remain in the plane of the plate32 since the spring 69 urges each corner portion forward-1y withsuflicient strength to overcome the resistance of the cigarettes. Whenthe flaps 34 are swung inwardly, however, the corner portions 65 areswung back as the plate 32 moves forwardly. To facilitate this, each ofthe flaps 34 is provided at its rear end (that is, considered in thedirection of movement of the pusher 32 in a pushing stroke) with aroller 70, FIGURES 5 and 6, mounted in lugs 71 at opposite ends of apart 72 fixed to the outer face of the flap 34. When the flaps 34 areswung inwardly, as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6, the roller 70 on each flapis in engagement with the corresponding corner portion 65. Thus as thepusher plate 32 moves forward ly, the flaps 65 are held back by therollers 79 and thus swing back, riding over the rollers as the pushermoves forward, and then along the inner surfaces of the flaps 34 asshown in dot-and-dash line in FIGURE 6. It will be seen that the roller74 permits a corner portion 65 to swing about its pivot with littlefriction or wear on the front face of the portion 65.

When the pusher returns, the corner portion 65 swings back to its normalposition as it moves past the roller 70.

It will be understood that the mechanism illustrated in FIGURES 4, 5 and6 is diuplicated at the opposite side of the apparatus.

FIGURE 9 shows diagrammatically the construction of one example of acontainer, or tray, for which the apparatus described is suitable. Thecontainer comprises a base 150, end walls .151, and one side wall 152,the other side being open. Gussets 153 extend from the base to the endwalls at the bottom corners of the container. At the top of thecontainer, the end walls are bent inwardly and backwardly to formprojections 154, which are provided in order to facilitate the stackingof the containers on each other. It will be seen that these elements 153and 154 constitute obstructions which must be cleared by stacks ofcigarettes being pushed into the lower and upper half respectively ofthe container from one side thereof.

The upper level of the first stack of cigarettes to be pushed into thecontainer is indicated in FIGURE 9 by a dot-and-dash line 155, while thetop level of the sec ond batch is indicated by the dot-and-dash line156.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows.

Cigarettes (e.g. coming directly from one or more cigarette-makingmachines) are fed downwardly between the strippers 4 and walls 144 bythe devices illustrated in FIGURE 1, and form a stack which is suppontedby the platform 15, which moves slowly downwardly until, when it hasnearly reached its lowest position illustrated in FIGURE 1, the needles12 are projected forwardly and prevent further downward movement ofcigarettes above them the plate 12a then being moved forward to supportthe cigarettes above it. A stack of cigarettes is pushed from theplatform, which then returns to its uppermost position. FIGURE 3illustrates the stage at which, while cigarettes are still supported bythe plate 12a, the platform 15 has just been raised to its topmostposition, following the transfer of the stack of cigarettes, as justmentioned. It will be assumed that the transfer just effected hascompleted the filling of one container, which will now be replaced by anempty container 11 positioned with its lower half in register with thepusher 32. This position is shown in full line in FIGURE 7.

At this stage the projection 30 is in engagement with the abutment 31and the flap 26 is therefore flush with rest of the platform 15. Thusthe platform is able to rise very close to the plate 12a, with theresult that when the latter is withdrawn, the cigarettes releasedthereby have only a very short distance to drop on to the platform 15.

When the plate 12a has been withdrawn, the platform 15 starts todescend, and as it does so, the part 28 rises (relatively to theplatform) and pushes the flap 26 upwardly until the flap 26 and surface29 assume the positions shown in FIGURE 2. Accordingly the bottomcorners of the descending stack of cigarettes are shaped to conform tothe shape of the interior bottom corners of the container or tray shownin FIGURE 9. In other words, the flaps 26 and surfaces 29 substantiallycorre spond to the gussets 153, FIGURE 9.

When the platform 15 approaches its lowest position,

the devices referred to above operate as disclosed in U.S. patentapplications Serial Nos. 690,475 and 747,738 to arrest the downwardmovement of cigarettes above a predetermined position, these devicesincluding the needles 12 which project into end faces of cigarettes attheir level, and the plate 12a which is projected beneath cigarettesabove that level and supports them while the platform completes itsdownward movement. The pusher plate 32 then pushes the batch ofcigarettes into the lower half of the container 11. It will be seen thatthe lower corners of the batch or stack will clear the gussets 153,FIGURE 9. At the end of the downward movement of the platform 15, thearm 60 at each end of the receptacle is lowered by the member 62, but asthe link 43 is at that time still in its left-hand position, FIG- URE 4,the pin 44 is clear of the end of the arm 60 and is therefore not pulleddown.

After the pusher has been retracted, the platform rises to the positionshown in FIGURE 3. At this time, or some suitable time thereafter, thechains 83 (FIGURES l and 7) are operated to lower the container 11 so asto bring its upper half into register with the pusher 32. The loweringof the platform 15 then proceeds for the second time. So far, the flaps34, FIGURES 4 and 5, have remained fiush with the remainder of theconfining walls 140 and in line with the upper walls or strippers 4,thus allowing cigarettes to be fed down freely and to form a stackextending from one end wall 14% to the other. As the container 11,carried by the chains 83, approaches its lowest position, however, theface 51 of the member 50 connected to the chains 83 engages the roller55, thus swinging the lever 47 so that the pin 48 pushes the link 43 tothe right, FIGURE 4, and thereby brings the pin 44 into the range ofaction of the end of the arm 60. Accordingly as the platform 15 reachesits lowermost position, and member 62 depresses the arm 60, the latterengages the pin 44 and pulls the link 43 downwardly. As a result, thebell-crank 38, 39, is rocked and the roller 42 presses the flap 34inwardly to the position shown in dot-and-dash line in FIGURE 4 and infull line in FIGURE 5.

The above description refers only to the mechanism at one end of theapparatus, but it will be understood that the identical mechanismprovided at the opposite end operates in the same way.

The mechanism just described is so timed that the flaps 34 are swunginwardly at a suitable time after the plate 12a has been projectedforward to support cigarettes which do not form part of the batch orstack to be transferred by the next pusher stroke. During that time, theplatform 15 has moved a short distance downwardly so that the upperlevel of the cigarette stack which it supports is a little below theplate 12a. Thus when the flaps 34 move inwardly they are able todisplace cigarettes near the upper level, in order to shape the uppercorners of the stack to the desired formation, and there is room for thecigarettes so displaced to move slightly upwards in accommodatingthemselves to that formation.

To avoid undue complication of mechanism it is found convenient, andquite satisfactory, to allow the flaps 26 and surfaces 29 (FIGURES 1, 2and 3) to assume the positions illustrated in FIGURE 2 during each ofthe two filling cycles. If desired, however, the mechanism could bemodified by providing means to maintain the flap 26 in its horizontalposition during the second cycle, since the second batch of cigarettesis pushed into the upper half of the container 11 where there are noobstructions in the way of the lower corners of the batch.

The pusher plate 32, as mentioned above, has pivoted top corner portions65. These remain flush with the plate 32 during the first pushingstroke, but are swung when the second batch is pushed into thecontainer, after the fiaps 34 have been swung inwardly in the mannerexplained above.

The lower corners of the plate 32 are cut away as 8 shown in FIGURE 1,to enable the plate to clear the flaps 26 and surfaces 29. If desired,however (for example if the flaps 26 were arranged to remain horizontalduring the second cycle, as mentioned above), the lower corners could beprovided with pivoted corner portions like the portions 65.

When a container 11 has been completely filled, by the transfer into itof two successive batches or stacks of cigarettes, it is removed andreplaced by an empty container. Preferably the filled container israised by the chain conveyor system 83 to a convenient height for visualinspection of the cigarettes by an attendant-that is, to a level abovethat at which the first transfer operation takes place. To facilitatethis, in the apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 7 the chain conveyor 83 canif desired be arranged to extend upwardly further than as shown in thatfigure, and suitable mechanism may be provided to elevate a filledcontainer to a suitable level, for example one at which it is higherthan the cigarette feeding and filling apparatus, so as to facilitateinspection and also to make it easily accessible for removal.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

l. Cigarette-collecting apparatus comprising a support, means to feedcigarettes downwardly on to the support on which they form a stack,means to move the support downwardly to lower the stack during itsformation, upright confining walls between which the support is moveddown, the said support and the said confining walls constitutingconfining members which confine the stack during its formation, a pusherto push a stack across the support, means to support a container in aposition to receive said stack from the support, means to raise thesupport, means operative, after a stack of the required size has beenformed on the support, to prevent further cigarettes from moving downuntil the stack has been pushed across the support into an adjacentcontainer and the support has been raised to receive further cigarettes,wherein at least one of the said confining members comprises movableparts located where those edges of a completed stack which are incontact with the said confining walls will be located, and means tocause each such movable part to assume a position in the same plane asthe member of which it forms part, for facilitating the formation of thestack, and to move inwardly from the said position before the stack ispushed into a container, so as to cause the said edges of the stack tobe formed to suitable shapes to enable them to clear any obstructions inthe inner corner portions of the container.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said movable parts arepivoted on their respective confining members.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said movable partsinclude pivoted flaps at the extreme ends of the said support, whichflaps are spring-urged upwardly and inwardly towards positions in whichthey extend obliquely from the support to the confining walls.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, comprising an element pivotallyconnected to the support, and springurged in a direction to press a flapupwardly, and a fixed abutment, the said element having a part arrangedto engage the said fixed abutment when the support is approaching itshighest position, whereby the said element is depressed relatively tothe support and the flap swings downwardly into the plane of the rest ofthe support.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the said element has asurface which, when the element is in its raised position relatively tothe support, forms an extension of the raised flap.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said upright confiningwalls comprise pivoted flaps at the upper ends of the said walls, theflaps being spring-urged outwardly towards positions in which each saidflap is in the same plane as the wall of which it forms a part, andmeans to press said fiaps inwardly after completion of a stack ofcigarettes to be pushed into a container, so as to cause the said flapsto extend obliquely inwardly from the said walls and cause the uppersaid edges of the stack to assume a suitable shape prior to the transferof the stack of cigarettes into the container.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, comprising means to lower acontainer from one filling position to another, and wherein theapparatus is arranged to fill a container in two stages by pushing onestack into the lower part of the container and subsequently pushing afurther stack into the upper part of the container after the latter hasbeen lowered, and wherein the means to press the said fiaps inwardly isoperative only after formation of the said further stack.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the said means to press theflaps inwardly comprises a movable presser element to engage each saidflap, a movable actuating member arranged to be moved by the saidsupport each time the latter reaches its lowermost position, a linkingmember capable of coupling the said movable presser element to the saidmovable actuating member, and means operated by the said means to lowera con- 10 tainer, to move the said linking member to a position suchthat it can couple the presser element to the actuating member, onlywhen the container is being lowered from the said one filling positionto the other filling position.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pusher comprises pivotedportions at its upper corners at least, which portions can be swung awayto cause the pusher to conform in shape to the shape of a stack to bepushed into a container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS753,223 Beeg Mar. 1, 1904 1,248,465 Donnelly Dec. 4, 1917 1,447,715Ekstrom et al Mar. 6, 1923 1,770,901 Dietm-ann July 22, 1930 1,870,533Scott et al. Aug. 9, 1932 2,919,529 Hillman Jan. 5, 1960 2,938,317Hillman May 31, 1960

